Facilitating the protection and restoration of species and ecosystems at risk on BC’s South Coast
Coastal Douglas-fir
Next to Garry Oak, this ecological community is one of the rarest forest types in BC and the smallest in distribution, occurring along the coast only from southeast Vancouver Island, Sunshine Coast, Howe Sound and patches along the Metro Vancouver coastline to the Olympic Mountains in Washington State. This community has a strong association with marine variant zones and uplands.
Coastal Douglas-fir prefers the dry, well drained south aspect areas and rainshadow zones often compared to a Mediterranean-type climate. Typically this community is drier and warmer than coastal western hemlock. As a coastal forest community, this is one of the most imperiled, mainly due to its location which coincides with human settlement pressures as well as being historically an easily accessible old-growth resource for timber harvesting. Presently few old-growth stands remain throughout the community's distribution and existing patches are highly fragmented. However this ecological community, where it does persist supports a diverse range of at risk flora and fauna, including Northern Goshawk, Marbled Murrelet, Garry oak as well as species such as salal, dull Oregon grape and ocean spray, Oregon beaked moss and electrified cats-tail moss. The red-listed from of this community found on the South Coast is Douglas-fir - arbutus.
Download Species Fact Sheet in PDF
RESOURCES
For further information see:
A source for authoritative conservation information on thousands of plants and animals and hundreds of ecological communities in BC. From here connect to all provincial and federal recovery plans (including the SARA Registry), COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada), Identified Wildlife guidance and conservation requirements for specific species and ecological communities of conservation concern impacted by forestry activities) and links to E-Flora and E-Fauna (the Electronic Atlas of the Plants and Wildlife of British Columbia).
A joint venture resource providing comprehensive information on a range of species and ecological communities specific to the Coast Region of BC (including the South, Central and North Coast, Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii).
Environmental guidelines for urban and rural land development in BC.
Learn what species are at risk in your area, search by name, habitat type, regional district and forest district.
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